ABSTRACT
Local government in feudal times could virtually be defined as how lords of the manor chose to run their estates. Administrative units of ‘county’, ‘borough’ and ‘parish’ date back to Norman times, when justice – an important element of local governance – was dispensed via the county assizes, which also raised militias or defensive forces. The Local Government Act 1972 was a huge rationalisation of the patchwork pattern of local government which had emerged over the centuries. Margaret Thatcher’s period in power saw a virtual war being waged against local government. In the earlier incarnations of local government, local property owners tended to exercise more power and influence than political parties. If the early and mid-twentieth century was local government’s golden age, its history since World War II has largely been one of decline. The Local Government Act 1988 installed the ‘community charge’, or, as it was popularly known, the ‘poll tax’.
